McCain is a fricking loser who kisses Bush's
arse like nobodies busines.. He is quite a
kiss ass.

Maybe we could get Senators to take their jobs seriously if they get paid per vote, or even better: per bill they pass. Maybe then politics would be less about elections and more about governing. If only we could make it more about competence (dare I say, excellence) than loyalty.

Why does this surprise anyone? Bush has been derelict of duty since Day 1. Heckuva job, GOP.

It just goes without saying Bush and all the other rats will start leaving the ship before it totally sinks. We are just at the starting gates. best get busy ROVE.

I partially agree with Jesse. McCain is paid by citizens to be a public servant. Yet, he rakes in a huge salary while doing half the work. I'll save the debate about the pay of members of congress for another time and just say: McCain should be docked half his salary or more for this. I think it's absurd that no public outrage is made over this. Not to mention the election is a year and a half away!

Guess the Straight Talk Express doesn't make a stop at the Senate Floor!

So as an Arizona resident and Independent
Voter Iam totally ashamed that total loser
Amnesty John McCain and Two Face Jon Kyl
are my two US Senators! So some of us have
already been contacting McCain office to
demand he resign from Congress over his
missed votes and support of Illegal Alien
Amensty and the War Criminals George W Bush
and Draft Dodger Deranged Trickey Dickey
Cheney Insane Bloody Cost War in Iraq!

I don't blame McCain for missing those votes. While he is trying to be supportive of the administration to win the GOP nod, Reoublicans just can't win on the issues and this will effect his presidential campaign. Democrats are drawing so much more support than the Republicans and this shows that the Democrats are taking on issues that really matter to the American people. From health care to education and poverty, these issues take precedence over an ever-inflating military budget that seems to bring no resolve for any country involved.

The Borgen Project states that just $19 billion annually can end starvation and $23 billon annually can reverse the spread of Malaria and AIDS. In contrast, we have spent over $340 billion in Iraq. With poverty being so easily addressed, it is no wonder that a war-touting Republican side isn't doing well in the polls or with the American people.

Thank you for FINALLY reporting this. Though it should make bigger headlines for a presidential candidate campaigning to keep the troops in Iraq, it's a sad state of affairs when it is the norm for a senator to miss important votes. I guess he thinks they can't attack his voting record if he has none.

OMG how typical of that phony incompetent
out of touch with reality disgrace to
the State of Arizona and United States
Republican US Senator Amnesty John McCain
really is folks,and It makes me sick to
even think about McCain and Two Face Jon
Kyl being my US Senators here in Arizona!

OMG how typical of that phony incompetent
out of touch with reality disgrace to
the State of Arizona and United States
Republican US Senator Amnesty John McCain
really is folks,and It makes me sick to
even think about McCain and Two Face Jon
Kyl being my US Senators here in Arizona!

"To be fair to the senator, this morning's vote was essentially a sense-of-the-Senate resolution on troop safety in Iraq that simply moves the supplemental spending bill on Iraq back into a House-Senate conference. McCain has been a steadfast supporter of President Bush's recent handling of the Iraq war, so his views are widely known on this issue."

That's not being fair to McCain, it's making excuses for McCain. The standard is 'did you show up to work?', not 'nothing important was happening at work so I went to the beach'. Any member of Congress who misses a vote without an excuse should be reprimanded by the Ethics committee and docked a days pay.

Who cares? -- The only thing he is good for is when he sides with the Dems on campaign finance reform anyway.

Think how much better off the country would be if all Republicans were off running for President.

It's not really the point whether the vote would have made a difference. The point is, he's not showing up to do the job he was elected and is being paid to do. He's MIA and should return his salary to the taxpayers and should let the good people of Arizona put someone in office to represent them.

The honorable course of action, since his presidential ambitions appear more important to him than his legislative obligations, is his resignation of his senate seat.

That would permit the governor of Arizona to appoint an interium replacement senator.

The people of Arizona deserve full representation in both bodies of the Congress even while McCain chases his elusive dream.

He wants to be president? Well, I guess he has had a good example. How many days has George been on vacation since he was "appointed" by the Supreme Court? We (THE PEOPLE) have not been served since George and company moved into the White House. We have had dumb and dumber (George and Jeb) and now dumberer (McCain) wants another job.
I have yet to see anyone running for president who "deserves" my vote.

There are certain things one must look for in a leader: dedication to those that they are leading being one of the most important. If McCain is shirking his duties now, who's to say he'll be putting the needs of the people first when president? We need someone who will follow through. The US agreed to the UN Millennium Goals in 2000, which state that we will assist in eradicating extreme global poverty by 2025. I don't see McCain being the type of leader who will follow through on meeting those goals. Every night over 800 million people go to bed hungry and every 3.6 seconds someone dies of starvation. We need a leader who will listen to the people when we tell them that poverty reduction is a priority.

John McCain's vile ego is showing!

This small minded arrogant, egotistical tyrant should not be anywhere near the seat of power.Senate or 'Laff-out-loud'. the Presidency.
He has made a mess for the Republican Party with McCain Feingold and now there is even more money and corruption in elections and it punishes the Republicans. His 'Gang of 14' was his way to 'stick it to Bush' - and he did... his 'straight-talk express' is anything 'but" he is up to his eyeballs in arrogance and power-hungry for media attention and adoration.
His record in Arizona is horrible... the state is crawling with illegals, drugs and crime. He has done NOTHING about it.
His 'language and attitude' show his tyrannical, evil self centered behavior. He is a spoiled brat.

Never trust him or take him seriously. DO NOT vote for this cunning self-obsessed little man for President... and DO NOT CONTRIBUTE to his sorry, faultering (he has done it to him self) campaign. We see you now, John McCain. You are NOT a good man.

From a life-time Republican.

I love it!!
I remember when GOP rightwingnut ratfinks were tattling and whining about Kerry missing votes during the last pres. election. The slimy snitches were always on Matthew's screech fest, especially, and of course, Murdoch's Fox and probably the most fascist of all was Matthew Margolis demanding that Kerry owed the govt. $91,000.00 for missed Senate votes, 30 was it?
What a pack of hypocritical, shameless and unrepentant crooks the GOP is!

I love it!!
I remember when GOP rightwingnut ratfinks were tattling and whining about Kerry missing votes during the last pres. election. The slimy snitches were always on Matthew's screech fest, especially, and of course, Murdoch's Fox and probably the most fascist of all was Matthew Margolis demanding that Kerry owed the govt. $91,000.00 for missed Senate votes, 30 was it?
What a pack of hypocritical, shameless and unrepentant crooks the GOP is!

Clinton missed 1.8% and Obama 6.4% of votes this year. How can a comparison be made when we don't know the percentage of votes McCain missed? Also, we are not given the total number of votes for this session. Such reporting can distort, misinform and mislead the reader.

Interesting how The Washington Post neglects to identify the party affiliation when Democrats such as Johnson are mentioned for missing votes. No matter the reason, this is just another example of how this particular media outlet has abandoned any pretense of impartiality.

What a shame, the blogs don't check their facts and the printed media are pushing their own political agenda. Please, please, please go back to leaving the opinions on the Editorial page where they belong. And by the way, make some attempt to present an even mix of opposing views, not just the hate mail and only one party's talking points.

This Republican isn't being hypocritical...ANYBODY of ANY PARTY MISSING VOTES does not deserve to represent the good people of their state. It just happened to be Kerry then and it's McCain now. Sadly, this does not seem to bother the voters or they'd do something about it.

This Republican IS NOT voting for McCain.

"How can a comparison be made when we don't know the percentage of votes McCain missed? Also, we are not given the total number of votes for this session."

The article says that McCain is close to having missed 50% of the votes. Considering the update, I would assume that means he's missed somewhere around 49%. The article also says that 50% is out of the "170 roll calls held in the chamber so far in the 100th Congress."

Also, it's not Johnson's fault that he's missed all of the votes. I don't see how party affiliation has anything to do with recovery from a brain hemorrhage, or why it would have been necessary to put that in the article. McCain has a duty as an ABLED BODY elected official representing Arizona to be there and represent his state as much as possible. Seeing as Johnson is not yet an abled body again, I would think that could be over looked by most understanding Americans.

I think McCain age is beginning to take a toll on his ability to function. He lost it with Kyl, his rant at the first debate - followed by that inappropriate grin. He can't remember what positions he's taken and can't remember if condoms help prevent HIV! he needs to take himself out - give him a medal and say thanks but no thanks...

Recently I started looking at the senate voting data that comes out of www.senate.gov and I copied all of this sessions voting record into a SQL Server database where it's much easier to analyze. My guess is that you "the washington post" have done a similar thing because I've noticed some differences in yours and my data because of a few occurences of change votes that you evidently don't look for. At any rate I did a study yesterday where I determined the votes that the entire senate and each senator did on each day of the week and I found the following to be true:
Votes on Sunday 0
Votes on Monday 6
Votes on Tuesday 34
Votes on Wednesday 58
Votes on Thursday 49
Votes on Friday 34
Votes on Saturday 2
I'd say that most senators take a 3 day week end most of the time. Senators McCain and Brownback only vote on tuesday through friday if they vote at all. In the case of McCain he has only voted 51 % of the time and Brownback is upto 71%.
Of all of the senators running for the president only Clinton has shown that she can run a campaign and still perform her senatorial duties as she has missed votes 8, 9, and 122 so while most Senate Presidential candidates miss vote during the campaign she has voted in the last 50 consecutive votes. Most senators are above 90% but for some reason they just don't vote very much on Mondays.

What's funny is that if I don't go in to my job, I get fired. So are there any rules requiring a minimum participation in the Senate? Do these blowhard GOP guys vote on anything other than their cronies' war or giving themselves raises?

Dear President I know it hart time to save some money. to pay bills or jobs I can find a job hear in Birmingham Ala. in UAB Jobs and College

Shyvonne

Dear President I know it hart time to save some money. to pay bills or jobs I can find a job hear in Birmingham Ala. in UAB Jobs and College

Shyvonne

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